It is known to provide numerous components of a vehicle which are operable responsive to a user command. Such components include a roof of a vehicle, a portion of a roof of the vehicle, a sunroof, windows of the vehicle, air vents, a boot or tailgate of the vehicle etc. Often such components are moved by an actuator which may be electrically operated, such as a motor, or hydraulically operated. The actuator is operable responsive to user operation of a corresponding switch.
The switch may have a range of movement encompassing two stages. A first stage corresponding to limited or part actuation of the switch causes the actuator to move only for as long as the switch is actuated. In this so-called manual mode of operation the user is able to move the component a limited distance, for example to partly open a roof, sunroof or window of the vehicle. A second stage, which may correspond to full operation of the switch, causes the actuator to move the component to a maximum extent of the components movement, such as fully open or closed. In this way the user can selectively operate the switch to cause a desired amount of movement of the component.
Gesture detection sensors can replace conventional switches in order to operate components of a vehicle. Such sensors can be useful, especially for drivers, who can simply move one of their arms into a detection zone of a gesture sensor to achieve a desired operation of a component. However, such components may be inadvertently or accidentally actuated due to erroneous detection of gesture commands.
It is an aim of embodiments of the invention to at least mitigate one or more of the problems of the prior art.